Soto City.
Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang's bedroom.
In order to search for flaws in Xiao Yan's thesis, Yu Xiaogang hadn't slept the entire night. His eyes were bloodshot, and thick dark circles hung beneath them.
Yet the more carefully Yu Xiaogang read, the more depressed he became.
The data on self-condensing spirit rings was entirely authentic — that much was bad enough. But research on soul tools as well?
Yu Xiaogang only half-understood what he was even reading. How was he supposed to find any holes in it?
Moreover, after realizing how Xiao Yan's thesis could impact the future of ordinary soul masters…
Yu Xiaogang also understood now why Zhao Wuji said he could only count as half a "master."
"AAAAHHH! Xiao Yan — you and I cannot coexist under the same sky!"
Yu Xiaogang roared loudly.
"No! I absolutely cannot let Xiao Yan trick Xiao Lin away!"
"Only by producing the strongest Titled Douluo in history can I prove who the real master is!"
After a bout of madness, Yu Xiaogang finally calmed down, firmly convincing himself of this.
The strongest Titled Douluo in history…
As Yu Xiaogang thought about it, he fell silent.
Without Xiao Lin, was there really hope with only Xiao Ma?Recently, Yu Xiaogang had discovered that Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire was growing worse and worse.
Sometimes, it got so bad that unless Ma Hongjun "vented" the fire, he couldn't even accept training.
Xiao Ma had also developed some resistance to Oscar's sausages.
At this rate, Xiao Ma's training time would decrease, and his growth would slow.
The strongest Titled Douluo had nothing to do with Xiao Ma anymore.
What should he do?Should he cut off Xiao Ma's… thing?
No, no, no — better to wait until Xiao Ma reached level 40, then find him a powerful phoenix-bloodline soul beast to try again.
Preferably a ten-thousand-year one.
If that still didn't work, then Xiao Ma shouldn't blame his teacher.
His teacher was only doing it for his own good.
From then on, all of his soul rings should come from phoenix-bloodline soul beasts. The "root" could regenerate anyway.
Sigh!The more Yu Xiaogang thought like this, the more he thought of Xiao Lin's Coiled Dragon Staff, and he couldn't help but sigh again.
An innate full-soul-power Tool Spirit with no side effects — even stronger than the Clear Sky Hammer…
At this moment, Yu Xiaogang had already broken Ma Hongjun through overtraining, yet instead of thinking about restoring him, he still planned on cutting to "cure forever" — and he was still coveting Xiao Lin.
Clearly, Yu Xiaogang truly wasn't fit to be a teacher.
Just then.
Yu Xiaogang's bedroom door was flung open, and Flender burst in directly.
"Xiao Gang, Qin Ming has sent a letter — he says he can give us an opportunity for an exchange match."
Suddenly, Flender shouted loudly, handing the envelope in his hand to Yu Xiaogang.
"What!?"
Hearing this news, Yu Xiaogang immediately perked up.
If their Shrek team joined the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy and received his perfect education…
Wouldn't the championship of the Continental Tournament in two years basically be in their hands?
Quickly, Yu Xiaogang grabbed the envelope and stared at it intently.
"What? They want to form four-man teams to spar, and only if we win are we allowed to become substitutes?"
"What kind of nonsense is this!?"
Yu Xiaogang immediately grew angry — this rule completely failed to show them proper respect.
If Ma Hongjun and the others could defeat the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy team, shouldn't they become the main force?
Yu Xiaogang's doubts, Flender also understood clearly.
He didn't know why Qin Ming had set such rules.
Was it because the original Royal Fighting Team's coordination and chemistry were better, so even if Hongjun and the others won, they could only take substitute spots?
But that didn't really make sense — Hongjun and the others would become stronger, and their teamwork would only improve too.
At this time, Yu Xiaogang and Flender didn't know that Qin Ming gave them this opportunity purely because he wanted to see this so-called Seven-in-One Fusion Technique.
Royal Fighting Academy didn't even need to compete; they could directly enter the top eight tournament bracket (the original novel's plot forgot this — maybe it was straight into finals or semi-finals, but it seemed unreasonable, so it was changed to top eight). They didn't need substitutes at all.
After all, Xiao Lin not only wielded fire, but also lightning — and now even ice (from a soul ring obtained in the Extreme North, Qin Ming guessed, since the letter was sent long ago).
Xiao Lin could certainly handle the amplification of the Seven-in-One Fusion Technique.
Honestly, before the Royal Fighting Team underwent its qualitative transformation, Qin Ming had high hopes for these juniors — he was also quite curious about the Seven-in-One Fusion Technique.
But now, he was just purely curious, nothing more.
When Qin Ming wrote this rule, even he felt a little baffled by it.
Defeat the Royal Fighting Team?
In this world, there likely wasn't another team that could rival the current Royal Fighting Team.
"Although I don't quite understand Qin Ming's intentions, we can still fight for it."
Flender's eyes flashed with a trace of sharpness.
As long as they joined the Royal Fighting Team, with the resources of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, they might be able to acquire the best ice-attribute treasures for Ma Hongjun, perhaps even perfectly solving his Evil Fire problem.
"Alright, then we'll head to Heaven Dou Imperial Academy and claim victory first."
Yu Xiaogang nodded seriously, not even considering the possibility of losing.
Both of them even forgot how earlier they nearly split apart over a promise to Liu Erlong.
For the two of them, perhaps their own ambitions still mattered more.
…
Elsewhere.
Heaven Dou City, at Dugu Bo's mansion.
Ever since Master Xiao Yan's thesis had once again gone wildly popular, Dugu Bo faintly sensed something was wrong.
At this rate, Heaven Dou City would soon be surging with hidden currents.
Xiao Lin and the others would be in danger.
And as far as he knew, Master Xiao Yan still had several ongoing research projects.
For example, soul core research.
Under Xiao Lin's guidance, Dugu Bo had already successfully evolved his own poison core.
Now, his poison core rotated within his body, the toxins of his martial soul had become denser, and even the poison in his body barely surfaced anymore.
The medicines Xiao Lin gave him — he hadn't needed them for a while now.
Having received such a tremendous favor, Dugu Bo naturally did not wish to see Xiao Lin and the others placed in danger.
Letting Master Xiao Yan worry about his grandson…
It seemed he would need to invite Xiao Lin and the others over to his place.
That way, he could protect Xiao Lin.
Better yet, take them to his medicine garden — the poison barriers there were so deadly even Titled Douluo would not dare intrude rashly.
Now, what excuse should he use?Right — he could say that his soul core cultivation had reached a bottleneck.
Once decided, Dugu Bo acted — he had always been the kind of person who did things according to his own preferences.
Now that Xiao Lin and the others suited his temperament, he naturally wanted to pay closer attention and protect Xiao Lin.
Even without a Martial Soul Oath, it would be the same.
Before long, Dugu Bo quietly vanished from his mansion.
On his way to Heaven Dou Imperial Academy…
As expected, he discovered several sneaky individuals.
Among those sneaky figures, quite a few possessed deep soul power.
Dugu Bo's heart sank — clearly, he wasn't the only one who had pieced together the connection between Xiao Lin and Master Xiao Yan.
Now that Master Xiao Yan's thesis was published, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan had even renamed themselves the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
Yan Yan's classmates had each undergone profound transformations — anyone observant would notice.
It wouldn't be surprising if even Titled Douluo experts came directly to Heaven Dou City to investigate.
Thinking this, Dugu Bo accelerated toward Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
(End of Chapter)